L.A. Wants to Use Armory for Homeless During Cold

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday called on the county to open the National Guard Armory in Van Nuys to the homeless in foul weather.

The proposal to shelter up to 200 street people at the armory is part of a program approved by the council for housing the homeless when the temperature is projected to dip below 40 degrees or below 50 degrees with at least a 50% probability of rain.

Gov. George Deukmejian last year ordered the National Guard to make available--at the request of counties--its 109 armories in California to the homeless in bad weather. Last winter, controversy erupted in Los Angeles after at least four street people died of hypothermia.

Bob Vilmur, coordinator for the city’s homeless, is confident that the county will agree to the use of the Van Nuys armory. “I envision no difficulty whatsoever,” he said, adding that the facility could be ready by the end of the month.

Vouchers for Motels

Last winter, homeless people in the Valley were given vouchers for free overnight stays in low-cost motels during cold spells. In addition, recreation centers in Lake View Terrace and Pacoima were opened to the homeless.

This year, vouchers will be distributed by Better Valley Services to homeless people with children, the council decided. The armory, at 17330 Victory Blvd., is to shelter adults. Its use will allow the city to further stretch its homeless shelter funds, Vilmur said.

The Valley’s homeless will be offered rides in city buses to the armory from parks and other areas where they congregate, officials said. Free food will be provided at the armory, which will remain open three nights at a time to give health and welfare workers time to assist homeless people, officials said.

Hot Line Set Up

Vilmur said the city also has asked the county to open armories in Culver City and West Los Angeles to the homeless during cold weather. The city also has established a hot line (1-800-548-6047) to provide information about the emergency shelter program to the homeless.

Recreation centers also will be opened to the homeless “when we have a particularly severe or long storm,” Vilmur said.

Last winter, emergency shelters were open 45 days. Vilmur estimated that 75% of the 13,178 cold-weather vouchers issued last year went to the Valley homeless.

“It is colder there,” he said. “When it tends to rain anywhere in the city, it rains in the Valley . . . Moreover, we sense a higher proportion of homeless families with children in the Valley than most other city sections.”

City officials estimate there are from 3,500 to 5,000 homeless people in the Valley.